


By Name

by supercalvin



Series: 13 Nights of Halloween [4]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, M/M, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 05:19:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2495906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercalvin/pseuds/supercalvin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s the night of the full moon and they have to go on the hunt before the werewolf kills again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By Name

It’s nighttime and Arthur is gathering the hunting team in the middle of the village. Leon stands by his side, helping everyone get weapons to defend themselves. Most of the women and children have retreated back into their huts, locking the doors and barricading the windows.

“Arthur.” Hunith touched his shoulder. She didn’t shout and her voice never wavered, but he knew that tone of voice. She was shaking slightly but her eyes were not wet. “Merlin’s run off again.”

Arthur’s hands clenched around the crossbow in his hand. “Leon. Stay here. I’ll be back.”

Arthur ran to Merlin’s hut, only to find the door open. “Damn it, Merlin.” Arthur swore as he walked into the darkened hut. Merlin wasn’t there, only piles of clothes from where Merlin hadn’t tidied up. Merlin knew better than to go out on a full moon. “Any other night, Merlin. Why did you have to run off on the _full moon_.” Arthur said to himself, remembering all the times he had caught Merlin out past dark when he should have been asleep in bed. How was Arthur supposed to keep Merlin safe if wouldn’t stay put?

Arthur stomped out of the hut. He couldn’t look at Hunith’s face as he said to Leon, “Get the hunt together, we leave as soon as everyone’s ready.”

Hunith knew that they had no choice. Everyone knew the risks if they were out during the full moon. As leader of the village it was Arthur’s job to protect everyone in it and that meant the hunt took priority over finding Merlin.

“I’ll try to find him.” Arthur promised, knowing his eyes would be attuned to look for Merlin as much as it would the wolf.

Hunith nodded, but whatever she was going to say was cut off by the sound of a howl.

A crossbow in one hand, Arthur held a torch with the other. Almost everyone in the hunt had a weapon and they looked ready to use it. Most of the time the guards stayed around the village, never seeking out the creature, but during the last full moon the werewolf had taken several sheep and killed one boy. Arthur usually wasn’t out for blood, only to protect his people, but Daegal was an innocent life that shouldn’t have died. Most of the villagers were out for blood tonight.

Merlin hadn’t shown up. Sometimes he would appear right before a hunt, determined to come along even though Arthur always told him it wasn’t a silly adventure. But not this time. Merlin wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Arthur tried to focus on the howl of the wolf instead of where Merlin might be.

Something scurried past them on their left and everyone turned. Then there was a sound behind them. Another sound on their right. Arthur listened carefully as the wolf surrounded them in a neat circle. The hunters were quiet, but Arthur could barely hear anything above his own frantic heart.

A flash of red eyes, white teeth, and fur lunged into the middle of the hunting group. Arthur heard screams and then feet pounding against the ground as everyone separated. Arthur knew the strategy the beast was playing, and it had effectively divided its prey. Arthur was all alone now, with just a torch and crossbow.

He followed the path he was on until he came to a clearing with a stream where the full moon cast enough light for Arthur to see. He couldn’t hear anyone else nearby and he prayed that was a sign that no one had been hurt. Then he heard rustling in the bushes.

He moved the torch so that he could see more and as soon as he turned around, the wolf was right there. Low to the ground, its teeth bared, and its muscles ready to spring, it did not immediately attack. Arthur had time to see the way the hackles rose up on its shoulder, the scrape of its claws against the earth, and the sound of a rumbling growl.

Arthur lowered his torch slowly and wondered if he could raise his crossbow in time. The creature had him trapped in a gaze that he could not disengage, even if he tried. Its eyes were a dull blue, and it caught Arthur off guard because he could have sworn that the werewolf’s eyes were red. Perhaps they had been brown, but never blue.

The creature raised its head, moving out of its attack stance, and turning its head to the side, as if confused. For a moment it merely looked like one of Arthur’s hunting dogs. Then Arthur remembered that this wasn’t a dog, but a human who had been bitten and turned into a monster.

A human who had blue eyes. Who had gone missing that night. Whose hair was dark as the beast’s fur in front of Arthur. _No_ , Arthur thought. _It wasn’t possible_. Merlin would never be a monster. But hadn’t Arthur known that Merlin tended to run off at the worst possible moment? Hadn’t he known Merlin to sneak off at night? Was it possible that Merlin had gotten bitten by a werewolf?

The creature had not attacked yet. It moved forward, one paw in front of the other. It did not growl anymore, and its teeth were not bared. It walked up to Arthur, and his heart leapt in his throat.

Merlin’s door had been wide open. Merlin’s clothes had been strewn across the ground of his hut, and if Arthur had looked closer, would he have noticed that they were torn apart with a transformation?

“No…” Arthur finally said, unknowingly speaking out loud. “It can’t be.”

The beast stopped in front of him, only a few feet away. It was enormous, thick black fur and blue eyes. They were the same kind eyes that looked at Arthur when Merlin smiled or when giving advice. The beast made a whining noise, high pitched and sad.

“It is you, isn’t it?” Arthur asked. “You were bitten and you didn’t even tell me, you fool.”

The wolf stared at him, and Arthur knew that the creature was calm but it would only take a second for it to forget itself and attack.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” Arthur whispered again. “Merlin?”

The wolf let out a noise which was somewhere between a howl and a whine.

“ _Merlin_!” Arthur yelled as the wolf collapsed. It looked like it was melting away and Arthur was afraid that it was hurt.

Then the wolf shrunk and contorted until it was nothing but a man, trembling on the earth floor. Arthur was on his knees, the mud of the stream leaking through and making him cold, as he grasped at Merlin. He took off his cloak and wrapped it around Merlin’s shivering body.

“Merlin.” Arthur felt his throat catch as he held the other man tighter. “Damn it, Merlin.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Merlin was shaking and Arthur wasn’t sure if it was because of the cold, the transformation, or the emotion. “I couldn’t help it. I tried but it happened anyway.”

Arthur held Merlin closer, trying to keep him warm. “It’s alright.” It wasn’t alright, but that wasn’t what either of them needed to hear.

“Arthur!” Leon shouted from somewhere in the woods. A moment later there were a few from the hunt staring down at them. They saw Merlin in Arthur’s arms, his nakedness under Arthur’s cloak, and they knew who the werewolf had been.

“Arthur” Merlin grabbed his jacket. “I was only bitten last full moon. Daegal… He was killed and I was…There’s still another-“ A howl pierced the cold air and Arthur knew that their troubles weren’t over yet. Merlin had been bitten last month, which meant there was another werewolf to find. Somewhere in the back of his mind though, he was grateful to know that Merlin hadn’t been the cause of Daegal’s death.

 “I’m taking Merlin back to the village.” Arthur said, standing up and picking Merlin up in his arms. “Protect the village from the wolf.”

Merlin’s arms wrapped around Arthur’s neck, holding tight despite the shaking in his body. When Arthur arrived back in the village, he knocked on Hunith’s door and called out for her. As soon as she saw Arthur and Merlin she quickly let them in, locking the door behind them and settling Merlin on the cot. Arthur hadn’t needed words to explain what had happened. Fortunately Hunith knew her son well enough.

When Hunith finally said that Merlin was alright and would just need sleep, Arthur walked over to the cot where he lay. Arthur had thought Merlin was asleep but when he leaned down to rest a hand on Merlin’s forehead, his blue eyes blinked back at him. 

“You turned me back into a human” He said. They both knew the legends about how to turn a werewolf back into a human. Someone who loved the werewolf would have to say its name, and only then would the wolf change back into a man.

“Yes, I suppose I did.” Arthur leaned down and pressed a kiss to Merlin’s forehead. “Get some sleep, Merlin.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the Old English Legend which was presented to me in this Tumblr Post [(here)](http://novosti-dny.ru/uploads/posts/2015-01/smeshnye-komiksy-20-kartinok_7212.jpeg)


End file.
